Anish Kapoor - inside the Leviathan

So after many an unfruitful attempt at visiting this exhibition I finally managed to gain entry to the inside the belly of the Leviathan.

The day we went happened to be one of the most unpredictable days weather wise I have ever experienced. One moment the sun is shining down, and the next, usually when you have finally decided to brave the concept of going outside the heavens open up and release a deluge that seem to suggest that god himself is angry with you. 

However this did result in a smaller than usual queue at the exhibition, but this didn't matter as I had already booked and printed out our tickets from on-line

Visiting this time with 2 friends from Ireland, we proceeded to take photos in the spirit of the exhibition.

After a quick stroll around we  entered into the belly of the beast with absolutely no wait, apparently there had been a performance on in the space last time I visited and this resulted in the large slow moving queue. Entering the dark space through a rotating black door you instantly notice your ears popping as a result of the change in air pressure required to keep the large structure inflated. The sound of people tapping and banging the outside skin is also far more interesting from the inside as the noise echo's and reverberates remarkably. 

While I had previously been cursing our fowl luck with the ever changing weather I was now enraptured with what seemed like a veritable performance from the sky, one moment the sky being cloudy leaving the Leviathan dull and dark

inside

and the next the sunlight piercing through the clouds creating dramatic cast shadows and a series of ooohs and ahhs from the enveloped crowds. 

After enjoying the internal experience of the Leviathan as well as the now obligatory posing we proceeded to go back out to the rest of the exhibit have a further look around the beast.

speak no evil, see no evil, hear no evil

A browse through the book shop was required in order to escape the fresh shower that had just started, but after another series of funny poses we were more than satisfied and happily on our way. 

 

For those of you still interested in going the exhibition finished on the 23rd of June. Sorry

3rd time lucky for visiting Anish Kapoor

The name of this series of exhibitions at the Grand Palais is called “Monumenta” and despite first impressions this does not make direct reference to the size of the queue at the door

So after trying to go to this exhibition 2 times previously I finally bit the bullet at bought the tickets on-line before going as time was running short. The effort and extra €1 of having bought the tickets on-line was definitely worth it as we swanned directly with no hassle and more importantly no queue.

For people that have never been to the Grand Palais before lets make one thing clear. Its a one trick pony. That trick being one giant space with a 200meter long Nave and a 45 meters beneath its central dome and the pony being the Epic (capital E) building that it is.

Entering the space I was at once hit by the sheer size of the work of art. Its HUGE. After a quick wander around though I noticed another queue. That's right there is a second queue inside the exhibition to enter into the space of the “leviathan”. Yup, another queue. And this one was also quite long and to top it off seemed to be moving slower than your average snail.

this photo was taken from our position in the queue (see left)

After queueing for 15minutes, we realised that this was a pointless effort as we had planned to meet friends for drinks soon. And decided to enjoy the rest of the exhibition. The rest of the exhibition was really good, in so far as we just walked around the giant object and were constantly impressed by its sheer size.

When we did finally manage to meet our friend for drinks, I was disappointed to hear that the best part of the exhibition is indeed getting inside the object. Still I did enjoy the exhibition and will definitely be going again soon to see the interior.

Here are some tips given to me by my friend who has already been.

• Try and go first thing when it opens in the morning
• Buy your tickets on-line
• Go on a sunny day as apparently the shadows of the roof structure of the Grand Palais on the inside of the leviathan space is quite striking.